The Good Sister

Sep 16, 2012 Margaret rated it 2 of 5 stars

Post-partum depression is an issue that is prevalent in society, but often overlooked as a serious disorder, so I was glad that this book brought to light the real pain and confusion many young mothers feel after the long awaited birth becomes a reality. I just felt like the book missed its opportunity to hit that mark.
The Good Sister was about cycles--mothers who will do anything to keep their husbands happy; mothers who really don't want children and are not equipped to raise them well; eldest...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Talia Carner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dysfunctional families are all different, and the various combinations of mental illness, ineptitude, callousness, cover-up, regret, borderline intelligence and depression can create a vast number of stories. One such gripping story, populated by engaging characters, each carrying his or her own psychological baggage that prevents her from breaking through.

Ellen, Roxanne and Simone’s dysfunctional mother, is somewhat proceeded by a late footnote appearance by her own mother, who comes through in...more Dysfunctional families are all different, and the various combinations of mental illness, ineptitude, callousness, cover-up, regret, borderline intelligence and depression can create a vast number of stories. One such gripping story, populated by engaging characters, each carrying his or her own psychological baggage that prevents her from breaking through.

Ellen, Roxanne and Simone’s dysfunctional mother, is somewhat proceeded by a late footnote appearance by her own mother, who comes through in this cameo appearance as loving, attentive, bright and hard-working. Her only “mistake” was that she had not begged her husband not to leave when he did, thus causing her daughter Ellen a lifelong distrust and sense of abandonment.

Is this single mistake eventually responsible for Simone’s attempted murder of her three out of four young daughters while pregnant with the fifth?

It seems to me that Simone’s low mental abilities combined with her lifelong history of depression were the culprit. When coupled with a rich, self-centered husband who clearly observed his wife’s inability to cope with one child, let alone five, yet wanted to keep her pregnant until she delivered a boy, were fully responsible for the situation. The case did not need the whole family history as contributing factors.

What the “good sister” Roxanne did was to constantly fill in the blanks in raising the young Simone and later keep her company every day, morning to late night, to the exclusion of her own husband and his needs. But by doing so she was not only the enabler of her sister’s helplessness as she finally saw herself, but rather neglectful in acknowledging the danger to her young nieces. At the end she regretted supporting her sister’s helplessness, but in reality, the limited mental ability and borderline personality that Simone had brought when marrying a strong, domineering man sealed Simone’s fate.

In her note at the end of the book, the author said that she had meant to write about postpartum depression, but by throwig in so many other ingredients into the mix she ended up diluting the singularity of this condition that befalls women after giving birth even where there is no history of either mental illness, traumatic life, or other unfavorable circumstances.

The prose is fluid and often descriptive of places and emotions. The novel is a complex drawing of psychologically nuanced family relationships. It succeeds in most parts even as the whole does not come together into a cohesive picture of guilt. I found the personal dynamics to be engaging and clearly understood even as I wanted at times to shake the characters into reality, especially Roaxanne, the "good sister."

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Jun 22, 2012 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Grand Central Publishing|October 1, 2010|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-446-53578-6

Story Description:

Nine-year-old Merell knows what she saw in the pool that day. And her call to 911 immediately put her mother, Simone, under suspicion for an unforgivable crime. But as usual, Simone’s older sister, Roxanne, has come to the rescue. In the glare of national media attention she tries to help her vulnerable niece make sense of the family’s tragedy. And while striving to hold her own marriage together, s...more Grand Central Publishing|October 1, 2010|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-446-53578-6

Story Description:

Nine-year-old Merell knows what she saw in the pool that day. And her call to 911 immediately put her mother, Simone, under suspicion for an unforgivable crime. But as usual, Simone’s older sister, Roxanne, has come to the rescue. In the glare of national media attention she tries to help her vulnerable niece make sense of the family’s tragedy. And while striving to hold her own marriage together, she struggles with her always troublesome relationships with the beautiful Simone – who suffers from crippling postpartum depression – and their cold, narcissistic mother, Ellen. Unflinchingly honest and moving, THE GOOD SISTER is a novel of three generations of women seeking to overcome a legacy of violence, secrecy, and lies…as they discover just how far sisters, mothers, and daughters will go to hurt and help one another.

My Review:

This was a very interesting and intense read!!! Nine-year-old, Merell, witnesses her mother attempting to drown her baby sister in their swimming pool and calls 911. Knowing full well that she’d be charged with attempted murder, her mother and older sister, Roxanne, come to her rescue telling the police that is not the way it happened and that Merell being young was mistaken. However, Simone is eventually charged with the attempted murder of all four of her children and under goes a trial.

This is a story about postpartum depression, depression, narcissism, dependency and co-dependency which has been going on in this family for three generations. My feelings really went out to Roxanne who is always there for Simone to the detriment of herself and her own happiness. Simone just cannot function without Roxanne after having been taught to be totally “helpless” by her family growing up. Due her to delicate condition she was literally waited on hand and foot, carried when she should have walked, never had to figure anything out on her own, and didn’t learn how to cope with any type of stress whatsoever.

Simone’s husband keeps her pregnant having had eight or nine pregnancies within a few years along with some miscarriages. His plan was not to stop until Simone produced him a son. I felt he took advantage of Simone in a lot of ways but other people may not see it the way I do.

Of course, I also felt sorry for Simone who was a product of her environment and the way she was raised. She didn’t ask to be raised ‘helpless’ and unable to cope with ordinary every day stresses never mind having four children in such a short span of time.

The interesting thing is that this story was similar to the life the author, Drusilla Campbell, lead as she writes in her “Note from the Author” near the end of the book. Having now read the book, I wonder how much more of this fictionalized version was really true. In any event, the book was intense yet very, very sad for all those concerned. Every character in this story was affected in some way, an incredible read, really.

We all know about the horrors of postpartum depression but rarely do women also encounter a psychosis along with it like Simone does, or women like the very real life “Andrea Yates” who also killed her own children. Although written as fiction, this story is a reminder to us all to remember to seek help for any new Moms we know who may be suffering from postpartum depression because it is very real. I would definitely and most highly recommend this book to other readers.

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Oct 26, 2011 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

Shelley picked this for our book club. I enjoyed it even though it was about a macabre subject – a mother attempting to murder her children! Roxanne is Simone’s big sister, and she has been taking care of her all of her life. Now Simone is married to a chauvinist who married her because she was beautiful, but vulnerable and fragile. He ends up practically abusing her by repeatedly impregnating her, hoping for a boy after 5 girls, even though she’s obviously not capable of taking care of all thos...more

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May 21, 2011 Gina rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone interested in reading about family dysfuntion and its fallout

Recommended to Gina by: no one

Shelves: abuse, child-murder, family-dysfunction, psychological-dilemmas, post-partem-depression, paranormal, 5-00-rating

A wonderful, multiple-layered book dealing with post-partum depression and mental illness. Fascinating glimpse inside the mind of a mother, who honestly loses all sense of reality, and believes that the "right" thing to do is to save her children by trying to kill them. For so many years I have looked aghast at news articles about monster mothers, who harm their children, and now, thanks to this book I shall have some modicum of understanding of the anguish in their minds. Another valuable lesso...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 26, 2005. The day I stopped loving Tom Cruise. That is the day he slammed Brooke Shields for publicly announcing her reaction to postpartum depression. She chose medication. Gasp! Since then I've felt nothing but contempt for the man who has never had his body rewired while internal organs are pushed aside and changes in hormonal balance makes you cry because the cat coughed up a hairball.

On this particular day, my own body was waging a war with itself, having pushed a person the size of a...more May 26, 2005. The day I stopped loving Tom Cruise. That is the day he slammed Brooke Shields for publicly announcing her reaction to postpartum depression. She chose medication. Gasp! Since then I've felt nothing but contempt for the man who has never had his body rewired while internal organs are pushed aside and changes in hormonal balance makes you cry because the cat coughed up a hairball.

On this particular day, my own body was waging a war with itself, having pushed a person the size of a pot roast through a hole the size of a nostril, and for some mysterious reason, my previously aesthetically pleasing breasts became as hard as granite were leaking sustenance for a child that was wholly dependent on me. No amount of positive thinking was going to magically restore my sleep deprived, physically rewired body. Nope. Instead I did what any sane woman would do.

I painted the family room. And the kitchen. And the entry.

To this day, I can't properly articulate my manic response to giving birth. I can only sit back, sigh and enjoy the ambiance of the colors.

And so, back to the book and painting. The author paints a clear path to Simone's thinking and thinking errors. The feeling of being overwhelmed and helpless as the demands continue to pile around her, looking for impossible solutions and eventually slipping past depression into psychosis. It is as disturbing as it is well articulated. A new mother may see a sliver of herself in Simone and feel uncomfortable.

The author adds to Simone's personality bipolar, learned helplessness, narcissism, and provides a breeding ground for Simone's role. At the same time, Simone's older sister, Roxanne, takes on the caretaking role from a very early age. Co-dependency is threaded throughout the story by not only Roxanne but others from Simone's life and ancestral chain.

This is a work of fiction however, the author lays her soul out by taking on such a difficult subject. This book covers so many different aspects of relationships and mental illness and health along with multidimensional characters, I would strongly suggest it for a mature Reading Group. Reading level is not difficult, the language does contain the "F" word at times. (less)

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Dec 23, 2011 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, family-drama, contemporary-fiction

Fictional account of a woman dealing with her mentally ill sister. I appreciated this novel’s take on postpartum depression, a topic not often tackled in mainstream fiction. I really felt Simone’s confusion and her sense of being overwhelmed. At times I felt depressed and overwhelmed peering into her life. It’s interesting the author chose to make Simone borderline mentally disabled.

All that said, I had a really difficult time connecting with the characters. If Simone was bipolar, where was the...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Nicole McManus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: written-review, my-sisters-books

This is the story of three generations of women and the choices that haunt their past, present and will forever change their future. Ellen was not fit to be a mother and it showed in how she raised her daughter, Roxanne. A few days before Roxanne started the first grade, Ellen dropped her off at her grandmother’s house, only to return when Roxanne was nine years old. When Roxanne came home it was her responsibility to care for her brand new baby sister. Roxanne became Simone’s world as her prote...more
This is the story of three generations of women and the choices that haunt their past, present and will forever change their future. Ellen was not fit to be a mother and it showed in how she raised her daughter, Roxanne. A few days before Roxanne started the first grade, Ellen dropped her off at her grandmother’s house, only to return when Roxanne was nine years old. When Roxanne came home it was her responsibility to care for her brand new baby sister. Roxanne became Simone’s world as her protector and her helper, since she was the one in charge of her life. Flash forward several years, Simone is a mother of several daughters and she suffers from extreme depression. Simone’s eldest daughter, Merell, knows her mother is not well. Merell knows her youngest sister’s life is in trouble, but promises her grandmother, Ellen, that she will never tell anyone. As life progresses in the present, memories of the past haunt everyone and when Simone finds out she is having another girl, things take a turn for worse. Will these women survive the past and present to have a future? Or will hormones, depression and past decisions, cost this family too much?

Campbell writes a poignant, heart breaking tale of a family. She gives insight into each of the women’s minds, while perfectly balancing the present with memories of the past. Readers will be swept up in the emotions that this book offers, while some may argue the outcome. This is a powerful and moving tale about the effects of depression on the entire family and the consequences from each person’s actions. Campbell also gives readers an insight into the inspiration behind this story in a note describing her own mother’s battle with postpartum depression.

Notes:

This book was loaned to me by My Sister's Books, for me to review. To learn more about this bookstore, please visit their website at www.mysistersbooks.com

This review was originally posted on my website, Ariesgrl Book Reviews. To learn more about my reviews, please visit my site at http://ariesgrlreview.com (less)

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May 09, 2011 CeeAnne rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure if I really wanted to read a story about post-partum depression, mental illness, and the attempted murder of children (sounds like a fun Mother's Day read, eh?), but something in the book description grabbed me. It starts off at the trial of Simone, the younger of two grown sisters, but the main focus of the book is on Roxanne. Good thing since Roxanne was the only person that I could tolerate in this book. A great deal of the story goes back to the time before the crime, and some...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow....very good, easy read...frustrating and scary. The good sister had really had a rough life of "taking care" of her little sister from the time she was a baby. The good sister just about raised herself, as the mental illness of her sister, Simone, actually, I believe to a lesser degree was passed from the mother, Ellen. Unlike a physical disease, mental illness is almost an invisible disease...unless one really knows a person, most people don't realize that a person is really suffering from...more

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Oct 01, 2010 Stella Craine rated it 2 of 5 stars

I decided to read this book because the characters have some parallels to my own disfunctional mother and sister, and I hoped to gain insight within my own family dynamic. So far, the plot is no where near my reality; there's far more drama and dysfunction with lots of promise to be a fantastic, well written tale.

Ok- now that I've finished this book it was kind of blah, but readable. The post-partum behaviors of the sister were more of a side story and lacked depth, the main character (the "good...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Alle Wells rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The Good Sister" Tells All

"The Good Sister" reveals the final destruction of a family. Roxanne, Simone, and Merell are the products of a dynasty of dysfunctional families. Their story is a twisting tale made up of bits and pieces of collective baggage accumulated over three generations. The lack of love and compassion passed down from one mother to the next is recognized by each mother too late to make amends for her sins.

Roxanne is the good sister who is able to love her sister in place of the...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars

A wonderful, multiple-layered book dealing with post-partum depression and mental illness. Fascinating glimpse inside the mind of a mother, who honestly loses all sense of reality, and believes that the "right" thing to do is to save her children by trying to kill them. For so many years I have looked aghast at news articles about monster mothers, who harm their children, and now, thanks to this book I shall have some modicum of understanding of the anguish in their minds. Another valuable lesso...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Shari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Roxanne Callahan has always been her younger sister's caretaker. Now married, her happiness is threatened when beautiful and emotionally unstable Simone, suffering from crippling postpartum depression, commits an unforgivable crime for which Roxanne comes to believe she is partially responsible.
In the glare of national media attention brought on her sister, Roxanne fights to hold her marriage together as she is drawn back into the pain of her troubled past and relives the fraught relationship s...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Susan Anders rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well-written fiction account of a woman suffering through postpartum depression and how it effects generations of women. As a mother of an infant that was very difficult, I totally understand this temporary and sometimes long-term affliction! When my sister-in-law (mother of 4 boys) called me a few weeks after bringing my second infant home from the hospital and jokingly asked if I was ready to throw her out the window yet, I was so relieved to know that I was not the only one that had that thou...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Lthelibrarylover rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is ok. I found it didn't quite work because there is either too much or not quite enough about each of the characters and details about different time periods covered. There should have been more about it or they should have been cut.

Other than that it was a great book with honesty about the character's views on family, particularly motherhood. It's basically about a dysfunctional family with generation upon generation of teen pregnancy and a poor approach to motherhood. Eventually it...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: women

I read the book quickly and have to say that I really didn't care for most of the characters in the book. Simone was in serious trouble and needed help from her husband, sister and mother before she tried to kill herself and her children. I know Roxanne was trying to be "good" to her sister but she was really just enabling her. Of course, she was a victim of her circumstances too but still I wanted her to speak up and get those children the help they needed. Nine year old Merell made me so sad t...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: modern-fiction

The compelling and poignant story of Simone who is a young woman diagnosed with a myriad of mental disorders and the effects these have on her and her family. Written from the point of view of her older sister, the book describes Simone's life story and forced me to consider the nature/nurture question in order to understand how she became the woman she is now.

The plot is centered around the trial of Simone who has been charged with the attempted murder of four out of five of her young daughters...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Jeanne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mental-illness

Simone and Roxanne are sisters who have grown up in a dysfunctional family, Simone very dependent on Roxanne and now standing trial for the attempted murder of three of her daughters. Through Roxanne’s flashbacks, we see something of their neglectful and abusive childhood, which gives us a bit of understanding of how they have come to this point in their lives.

The author tackles mental illness, enabling, post partum depression, and learned helplessness, as well as relationships between sisters,...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Cheryl Pashlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading the reviews of this book I thought that I was going to read about a woman with postpartum depression who attempts the unthinkable. Not only is she dealing with postpartum psychosis but she has been mentally ill all her life. She was more or less raised by her sister who was forced by their controlling party animal of a mother who had no love for either of them. In her helplessness she marries a macho older man who all that is important in his life is to have a son even after 4 girls and...more

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Nov 27, 2010 Rhonda Rae Baker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children, family, fiction, own, psychological, suspense

This was an extremely intense novel that had my attention from the beginning. I totally related to the storyline and understood what was going on. The way Drusilla changed POV (third person) was important and the backstory was woven in beautifully with just the right amount at the right time causing me to read faster and faster.

I'm choked up about it as the subject matter isn't for the faint in heart and it's possible that shallow thinkers or those who haven't been in similar circumstances won't...more This was an extremely intense novel that had my attention from the beginning. I totally related to the storyline and understood what was going on. The way Drusilla changed POV (third person) was important and the backstory was woven in beautifully with just the right amount at the right time causing me to read faster and faster.

I'm choked up about it as the subject matter isn't for the faint in heart and it's possible that shallow thinkers or those who haven't been in similar circumstances won't get some of it but that has nothing to do with the prose.

The novel was written perfectly and I came out of it wanting to contact my children with tears of joy because all five of them are accessable to me right now. I've struggled with how they were raised because of how I was raised and the choices they've made because I wasn't perfect. None of us are perfect but we can love and nuture and train...essentially, all we can do is the best we can...and at the time of raising young children, we can only do with what we know. If I had a mother to help me along the way raising my children then they may have had things a little better. But I can also say that they are extremely strong and independent children because of the things they endured. They all are close to Momma Rae and I'm honored to be their for them. I no longer enable them and they are beginning to tell me what happened to them while I was away working...they are healing...they are growing...they are learning and coming back for more wisdom and knowledge from family.

Not to get off track but any mom that reads this will want to go and hug their children. Mine are not living in the same town but they come to visit me at least once a month...and it blesses my soul to be sharing life and laughter with them. I'm happy that we all survived the 'baby' years and they are surviving their 'baby' years as well...my girls call me about everything now. We are all doing much better and learning from each other!(less)

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Apr 28, 2012 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

I can't remember the last book I read that was filled with so much tragedy and so many characters that my heart just cried for. The Good Sister is the story of Roxanne (the "good" sister)and Simone, the sister on trial for the attempted murder of her daughters. Both sisters broke my heart, along with Simone's oldest daughter, Merell, and youngest, Olivia, screaming constantly from the pain of acid reflux

Of course, the public automatically brands Simone as a monster, as is the case of real life t...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Jean Godwin Carroll rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-general, family-drama

A story of family dysfunction: codependence, enabling, learned hopelessness, and post-partum psychosis. From the age of nine, Roxanne was charged with her younger sister Simone's care because their mother was neglectful and abusive. That dynamic carries over into adulthood when Simone is unable to cope with the demands of motherhood. History begins to repeat itself as Simone's oldest daughter takes on the responsibility for her younger sisters at the tender age of nine, with perilous results. Wh...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Christen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: discussion-books

I haven't given 5 stars to a book in a long time. It was a tough subject matter, but very well-done, in my opinion. The book really brings to light the need for more attention and awareness brought to postpartum depression and the need for early recognition so that everybody (the whole family, not just the mother) can get the proper help. It is hard because the author does a good job of having you sympathize with both sisters, so there's no black-and-white, right and wrong. The author really get...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Linda Rowland rated it 2 of 5 stars

Interesting story and the characters could have been as well if I could keep the men they kept losing straight. Same crazy people reproducing the same crazy situations.
I thought it was a good story badly written. Maybe the confusion was only in my head but it was at the very end that I realized it was the grandmother of Roxanne whose husband left and had another family. Did the rest of the men die?
It seemed that the buildup to the event was the thing and not what actually happened.
I am rambling....more

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Sep 12, 2012 Cena Keegan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is normally the kind of book I avoid. I am unable to relate to it as much as other reader: might. I'm not married, I don't have children an I grew up in a decent home. My parents are still married so I never went through a lot of what these characters did. Though what kept me reading this book was how easy it was to simply become a part of the story. I read this book in several hours. I didn't put it down and I had a massive hand cramp after I finished it.
It was well written and put me in...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Audra rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was hard to read because I was always wondering when Simone would follow through with killing one of her children. This book was a good read, but it wasn't great. It was almost hard to read because of the post partum depression issues & harming her children. I did appreciate that this book brought to peoples attention that babies DO get/have acid reflux. I almost jumped out of my chair when reading that baby Olivia had acid reflux because it seemed like no one ever thought that acid reflu...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Gail Whitton rated it 4 of 5 stars

It took me several tries, but this book did eventually take off for me. It's a good story about a co-dependent relationship between two sisters, and introduced the term "learned helplessness" to me. It was sad to me that although most of the members of her close family knew her to be unstable and "bipolar" in character, it took a nearly tragic act on her part to take the children out of her care. I at once hated her and pitied her; the author paints her as someone who probably lacked not only th...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Maegan Blackwell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Wow. I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I could profoundly relate to so much of Simone's struggle with Post-Partum Depression. It was by no means a feel good read, but a book about how the "sins of the father (or mother)" can so greatly affect our children. I didn't enjoy how the author jumped around in her timeline, and I despised Simone's husband. I felt like Campbell did a great job of describing what it is like to be experiencing severe PPD, and how draining it is for those who...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013

It's refreshing when I feel like an author is writing a book in order to explore characters or to express herself, or for some other reason than to make a point. It seems that there are plenty of writers who use fiction to mask whatever conviction they are trying to share with the reader.

I thought all of the characters in this novel were treated with love. Even characters I wanted to dislike(and did, in fact dislike), I could understand, at least somewhat, and identify with them. They made sens...more It's refreshing when I feel like an author is writing a book in order to explore characters or to express herself, or for some other reason than to make a point. It seems that there are plenty of writers who use fiction to mask whatever conviction they are trying to share with the reader.

I thought all of the characters in this novel were treated with love. Even characters I wanted to dislike(and did, in fact dislike), I could understand, at least somewhat, and identify with them. They made sense and were flawed. Desperately flawed.

We know from the summary of the book that something awful happens in the book, but we are not completely sure until close to the completion of the book exactly what that is. Generations of women in this family are gradually revealed to us, and bits and pieces of their lives that influenced them the most are revealed. And that sounds like such an uplifting, sweet, "hey, we are coming together as a family in spite of our dysfunction" sort of story. Except it's not.

The thing is that these people are definitely dysfunctional, and they are close in geography, but not in their essence. In most stories, that would make the reader dislike the characters or the story itself would grow morose. But that does not happen in this story. Not sure why, except that it must go back to the love given to all of the characters.

Here's an example: I strongly disliked Simone's husband. He's pretty much all I dislike in a man: full of himself, certain that he (and all men) are superior beings, wants a wife who is dependent on him, wants a son more than he wants a daughter, unwilling to even consider that mental illness is in fact an illness/physical condition, and consistently puts his own plans and wants above what is best for his wife. But that is softened by his affection for his children, and the sense we get that he is, at least in part, driven by his environment and the influences therein. So, I can blame him for a great deal of the situation, but I can only hate him in waves.

And while I can identify with other characters in the novel, I can't make them the heroes either. They act in ways that are not appropriate and that have consequences.

All kinds of mental disorders are included in this story, and it is presented the best way possible: just as any other physical condition would be. Any kind of chronic illness is horrible. Mental illness is no exception, and it is presented here in such a true sort of way.

I don't know that I would label this book enjoyable as much as I would label it good. It was a worthwhile use of my time, and it made me evaluate family connections and how we treat each other.(less)

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